Underbody jacking panels, leave them off?

[dp351]

I recently installed new wheels & tires. Because I don’t have a spare and my EV Sportline kit hasn’t arrived yet, I followed the instructions in the manual (starting on P. 216) for lifting the truck with a non-Rivian jack, which says to remove the underbody panels to expose the frame rails.

This worked fine and I was able to lift the truck with a floor jack like a normal car/truck & change the wheels. After completing that task I did not put the panels back on, and I’ve driven a few hundred miles that way with no issues noted. Now I’m considering leaving them off. They don’t do anything obvious besides getting in the way of jacking up the truck. I suspect that they exist to provide an aero improvement, but this can’t be significant.

For off road use I would much rather leave these off in case jacking is needed, and to keep them from getting damaged. Even if I had a jacking puck, I would prefer access to a larger area of frame for the jack to contact, and eliminate the potential for problems with the unnecessary middle part (the puck).

Anyone know if any good reason to leave these panels on?

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[dp351]

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

I would think they provide mostly aero benefit. Maybe a little bit of keeping grime from the frame.

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